Salvaging equipment



July 22, 1930.

T. J. BURKE 1,771,205

SALVAGING EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 28. 1928 2 sheets-sheet 1 Invevzr.' Tos.Bu rzte,

July 22. 1930. T. J. BURKE '1,771,205

` SALVAGING EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 28. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Iman/for.'11h06. J/rke Patented July 22, 1930 Unirse' STATES PATENT:Y crm-CE`'rnurns J. Bunting or NEW ORLEANS; Louisiana sanvaerne En'crriannfrVApplication aree january as, rees. serian Haarlems. i

`My present invention relates to animproved salvaging equipment designedfor submarine employment in raising orlifting sunken or submerged marinecraft and espeeially adapted for use in `raising submersible vessels. Incarrying out my invention, I utilize one or more submersible buoyantpontoons that are especially constructed to facilitate their submersionfor attachment to the sunken craiit, and further to raise or litt thesubmerged craft. lVhile I have villustrated only one buoyant submersiblepontoon, it will be understood that as many pon` toons may be usedinoperating with. the equipment oit my invention as arenecessary. Incombination with the specially constructed pontoon, I .utilize a wellknown type of link-chain as a guide when lowering the pontoon, andthesame chain is utilizedlas the medium byfwhich Vthe buoyant pontoonraises the submerged craft to the surface of the water. -Means areemployed on the pontoon for automatically attaching and lockingthepontoon to the guide chain whenthe pontoonhasreached the required depthpreparatory to lifting the sunken vesseh By the utilization of `theequipment ofnmy` invention, a pontoon may with convenience and facilitybe lowered and attached to a sunken vessel, and then the latter maybelifted by the buoyantpontoon to the .water surface without undue` lossof time.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements ofparts as will hereinafter be `more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one complete example ofthe-physical embodiment of my invention as used for the purpose ofraisinga sunken submarine vessel, it being understood thatthenece'ssarynumber of pontoons are of course `employed as the tonnage ofthesubmarine requires.

Figure l is a View showing the equipment of lily-invention in use inconnectien rwith'a sunken submarine showing Va pontoonin p osition Jtoruse in raising the vesselg'A 'l Fig. 2 is a view showing apontoonincross section attached or coupled to alitting chain portion of a vesselto be raised; Y.

which is shown as connected `with a suitable Fig. 3 is alongitudinalsection of a pon toon according to my invention showing itsrelation to the guide-lifting chain with, they pars in position as thepontoon is being lowere Fig. 4f is an enlarged detail View showing therelation of a pair of sprocketwheels carried by the pontoon to theguide-lifting chain; i l

Fig. 5 is atop plan view oi' the sprocket wheels of Fig. l showing alink of the chain in cross section, and. l l i Fig. 6 is a crosssectionel view at line 6 6 ofFigS.v l

Figure 7 is a detail View showing a modiied'forin of clutch for use witha guide-lift cable. Y y j In carrying out my invention, I use asubmersible buoyant ,pont-oon et any suitable type, herein illustratedas a cylinder l having closed ends or heads 2 and 3. Any` suitable typeof pontoonmay be used, andol course any suitable number of pontoons maybe used in carryingrout my invention. The pontoon is submerged by firstopening a water intake valve l at the underside of the pontoon and this`valve may be operated through the stem 5 that passes transverselythrough the" pontoon and the'eontrol wheel or 4handle 6L rI`he handle ismanipulated when the pontoon is at the water surface for the purpose o1admitting water to the inte rior of the pontoon `so that it maybe sub.,-merged. An air hose 7 extending from a suitable `pump on the tender orsurface vessel V, is connected at the top portion of the pontoon byanair inlet Valve 8, and the interior of the pontoon `may be ventedthrough valve 6 asthe water is admitted to the water valve .Ll- `Thepontoonis provided with an outlet water valve9 which has a pipe 10 eX-tending` from the top of the pontoon and ter minating near the .bottomof the pontoon. As lthe air is forced intothe interiorofthe pontoonthrough-thehose 7, it will be apparent that the water is forced outthrough the pipe l0 and outlet valve 9 orfthe purpose of vrendering the.pontoony buoyant.

Thus the pontoon may be lowered to a sunken submarine as S by theadmission of water to submerge it, and when the pontoon is to performits lifting functions, the water is forced out of the pontoon and air isforced therein as is customary.

lVithin the interior of the pontoon, I arrange a centrally disposedtransverse tube 11 which has open ends and which is designed to encircleor surround a chain C which is made up of usual type of links 12 and 13.This chain is threaded through the cylindrical pontoon and may be passedthrough the tube from the upper end or from the lower end of the tube.The chain is used as a guide for the pontoon when it is being loweredand after the pont-oon has been attached to the slinken vessel S thenthe chain is used as a lift chain in connection with the buoyantpontoon.

At the upper and lower ends of the tube 11 of the pontoon, I provide apair of sprocket wheels 14 which are preferably of the same size andshape and each wheel is fashioned with alternately arranged single teeth15 and double spaced teeth 16 that are adapted to engage the alternatelinks 12 and 13 of the chain C. These sprocket wheels which are arrangedin complementary pairs are supported in brackets 17 and the shafts 18 ofthe wheels are journaled in these brackets so that the sprocket wheelswill revolve readily as the pontoon descends and by the use of thesepairs of sprocket wheels co-operating with the links of the chain, thepontoon is guided and is prevented from swinging or swaying, and ofcourse is retained in its proper relation to the chain.

Within the tube 11 are provided a suitable number of pawls 19 which arepreferably arranged at spaced intervals around the interior periphery ofthe tube and these pawls are pivoted at 2() on spaced rings or bands 21fixed to the interior of the tube. These rings 21 are spaced apart, andfour of them are shown in Fig. 3, each ring being provided with a springpressed pawl that is lpivoted at the upper side of the ring, The fourpawls are arranged Q apart, and two pawls are adapted to engage twospaced chain links, while the other two pawls are adapted to engagealternate spaced chain links. Thuis while the pontoon is descending asin Fig. 3, the free ends of the pawls ride along the links of the chain,but when the pontoon stops its descent,

the pawls are designed to fall by gravity and aided by the springs asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and the free end of each pawl slipsthrough a complementary link of the chain, and then the free end of thepawl rests upon the top face of its supporting ring. Thus the pontoon issecurely locked to the chain and if the pontoon hasV suliicientbuoyancy, it will rise to the surface of the Water carrying with it thatportion of the chain suspended below the transversely arranged lockingpawls, and of course the craft to which the lower end of the chain isfastened will also be raised as the pontoon rises. Thus the pontoon maybe lowered to a predetermined f depth and held stationary so that itslocking pawls will engage the complementary links of the chain. Then thewat-er may be pumped out of the pontoon and air substituted therefor torender the pontoon buoyant. The buoyant pontoon may then lift the objectbelow it a predetermined distance, and this performance may be repeateduntil the sunken object is raised step by step to the surface. In otherinstances, a suflicient number of pontoons may be employed to lift thesunken craft in one operation, and of course many other variations inthe use of the pontoons may be introduced.

In Fig. 1, the tender or surface vessel V has lowered one of thepontoons to the sunken submersible or submarine boat S and the pontoonis illustrated in position to lift the sunken submarine. In Fig. 2, aportion of a safety box is indicated at 22 as built into the hull of thesubmarine S and the hatch or lid 23 of this safety box is shown open sothat a grappling hook 24 forms the connection between the chain C andthe submerged craft S. This connection also includes an air motor 25used in connection with the grappling hooks, and an air hose 26 from thevessel V extends down from the rescue vessel V, shown in Fig. 1, andshort hose connections 27 and 28, together with the grappling hooks 24provide means whereby air, liquid food, water, &c. may be introduced tothe interior of the submerged submarine from the surface vessel V.

It will be apparent that the equipment of my invention may be use-d inmany diiferent ways, and I of course contemplate these various uses. Thestructure shown is an exemplifying structure and it will be apparentthat I may make changes in the construction and operation of theequipment within the scope of my claims without departing from theprinciples of my invention.

For instance, when a cable 29 in Figure 7 is substituted for theguide-lift chain, a pair of grooved pulleys 30 are arranged at the upperand lower ends of the tube 11 instead of sprocket wheels, and a pair ofclutch shoes 31 for frictional engagement at opposite sides of thecable, are pivotally supported by pairs of links 32 from the inner faceof the wall of the tube 11.

The guide pulleys, and especially the p airs of sprocket wheels, arespecially adapted to maintain the proper relation between the pontoonand the chain, so that the pawls will always be in position to slip intothe links of the chain.

It will be apparent that the pontoon may be lowered to depths that areinaccessible to divers, and when lowered to a sunken vessel,

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the pontoon, is automatically coupled or attached to it for liftingpurposes, thus entirely dispensing with the necessity for use of divers.v

Having thus fully described Iny invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The combination with aguide-lift chain, of a submersible pontoon having a tubular partsurrounding the chain, of a pair of sprocket Wheels at the opposite openends of said tubular part, said Wheels having alternately arrangedsingle and double teeth for coaction with adjoining links of the chain,and means 'carried by the pontoon for coaction With the links forlocking the pontoon to the chain.

2. The combination With a guide-lift chain, of a pontoon having atubular part surrounding the chain, a pair of guide sprocket Wheels ateach open end of the tubularpart, said sprocket Wheels havingalternately arranged single and double teeth for coaction with ad`joining links of the chain, and a plurality of

